


the error.

by yandereshit



Category: Mystic Messenger (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, Spoilers for V's route
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-25
Updated: 2018-02-04
Packaged: 2019-01-05 01:16:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,777
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12180054
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yandereshit/pseuds/yandereshit
Summary: The story takes place during and after V’s route, which results in spoilers from this part of the game. Don’t read if you haven’t went through the route or don’t know what’s happening in it.Warning! Potentially triggering themes. NSFW chapters will be tagged.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hi there! A bit of quite important information before we start.
> 
> What kind of story it is is rather obvious, but the thing you should know before you start: this story takes place during and after the Another Story (V's route), which makes it filled with spoilers from the very beginning. If you're not willing to read such content, please, just don't. This story won't disappear from Ao3. Save it, take your time going through the route, and then come back. It's for your own satisfaction ^_^
> 
> But if you didn't go through that route and don't really care about the spoilers you get, it'd be the best for you to at least briefly check the plot, otherwise - especially at the beginning - you may not know what's going on!
> 
> Another thing I'd like to clarify: this story may contain my own view on the situations from the route, but it doesn't mean everything that characters say will be my own view as well. For example, if someone says something about Rika, it doesn't mean it's what I think; it's what the character thinks. I'd like you to separate the characters' opinions from my own since they may differ a lot. 
> 
> I'm not willing to read any hateful messages towards the characters. I realize some of you may be against V or against Rika, disliking character is also 100% okay, but my story is not a place to share how much you despise them. I'm open for actual discussions though! 
> 
> And, the most important:
> 
> Just have fun!

_„It’s you._

_You called to ask how I was doing… I was cleaning up the surrounding areas._

_You know… I cannot forget the times I spent with you._

_All the times I spent with you… were so precious. I even questioned whether it’s alright for me to be that happy._

_For some reason my eyes keep watering…_

_Funny… I’m really happy right now…_

_I’m so happy to listen to your voice… but why?_

_Did you know that you have an unique habit when you talk?_

_Looks like you didn’t know._

_Um… I won’t tell you. If I tell you… I feel like your habit only I knew about… will disappear._

_I’ll keep this my secret forever, this habit even you didn’t know._

_Anyway, I’m… I really liked it… Talking with you and learning about you one by one._

_Whenever I learned more about you… No, whenever you talked to me, my heart raced._

_At first, I didn’t know what was happening to me because this never happened before. My heart raced, and I was so happy I thought I could die… You taught me what this all means, what it means to feel the flutter inside._

_And as I got to know you day by day…_

_I… I think I’ve come to treasure you in my heart._

_You know, I really like you. I really really like you a lot…_

_You showed a whole new world to me._

_My world has infinitely widened from the small attic-like world I lived in by meeting you._

_Thank you. Thank you…_

_You’re such a warm person… I really wanted to be happy with you…_

_I didn’t have the courage till the last minute… I was really glad when you called. Thank you._

_I wanted to tell you that._

_Thank you… I love you.”_

 

The night was cold back then. You were shivering, the silence disturbed by  soft noise the machines next to you made, the ones that were supposed to make sure the person laying in the bed was stable.

V was safe, that you were sure of. He was peaceful, laying here, not bothered by anything. The whole world seemed so far away from him. All that happened all along. He looked as if he forgot about it already, drowned in the world of his own.

Your hands trembled when you dialed the same number for the second time. Then the third, the fourth.

Nothing.

The bad feeling never left you, not even for a while.

And it was only worse when, in the morning, Seven’s words confirmed your worst predictions.

☀

„So… everything ended well, right?” Zen smiled softly, glancing at the ceiling. After all the stress he went through, RFA could finally see him at ease.

“Guess so…” Yoosung mumbled, staring down at the beer Zen bought to cheer everyone up.

V had been released from the hospital fairly quickly and everyone decided to chill out together, now that everything seemed _fine_.

You, V, Zen, Yoosung, Jumin and Jaehee.                             

Zen was the most relieved about all the things. V didn’t speak much, he was obviously still tired and no one let him even stand up on his own yet. Yoosung was a bit quiet, but tried to joke along. Jumin and Jaehee were exhausted, but both of them seemed the most like usual. The special unit didn’t need all the attention anymore. Everyone deserved some rest and they finally got it.

Only your thoughts were clouded, as you sat in the middle of the room, staring at the TV as if the movie actually absorbed you.

It didn’t and you didn’t even try to lie to yourself.

“Ah, we should have more meetings like this… Even trust fund kid isn’t as annoying as usual when he’s tired” Zen smirked. His attitude was starting to get on your nerves, but you knew he wasn’t doing it on purpose. It was only natural though… to be annoyed by people who didn’t understand you, right?

“You talk a lot as for someone who didn’t even move a finger to guarantee the RFA’s safety” Jumin answered, crossing his arms, but not sparing him even a single glance, his eyes fixated on the screen.

“Hey, I took care of Yoosung…! You can’t imagine how bothersome he was…” he sighed tiredly.

“Zen…! I’m not a kid, you know…” Yoosung whined quietly. “You say it as if you were babysitting me!”

“Come on, it was almost like babysitting… You looked as if you were about to do something incredibly stupid, so I had to watch over you all the time~”

“If you’re so exhausted by a mere few days of babysitting, I’m not surprised you chose a career that doesn’t require you to get married” Jumin said with a soft smirk that made Jaehee get amazingly pale in less than a second.

“Taking care of a baby is not an easy duty, Mr. Han…”

“Guys, but I’m not a baby, stop it already!”

Everyone laughed, except for Yoosung, who pouted and turned away from them. It seemed as if they just needed it. To laugh a bit, to chill out, to forget about what just happened.

Even V seemed as if he already didn’t think about it anymore. About Ray, about Rika, about the Mint Eye. How come it was so easy for him to just throw it aside?

You tried to be mad. Your thoughts were clear: he was the only person that could be blamed for what happened now, ever since Rika ended in the mental hospital as she clearly wasn’t in her right mind anymore. And still, V seemed to… get out of it the most comfortable way possible, well, aside from his physical injuries.

You desperately felt as if you needed someone to blame.

And yet… no matter how much you thought about it, you could only blame yourself.

For not being there. For not realizing earlier.

You couldn’t be cheerful, careless, act as if nothing happened. Not after what you heard. The last words still echoed in your head.

 _I love you_.

The overwhelming tension you felt ever since you escaped with V, all of it suddenly wrapped around you tightly, making you feel as if you were about to suffocate.

The high walls of sorrow, trapping you inside, crushing you more and more with every passing second.

Everyone could see you getting worse. No one knew how to help you. Because no one, except for V, knew what was the reason of your state. Others probably thought you just needed to somehow relieve all the stress, everyone would be overwhelmed after what you came through in such a short amount of time, right?

But it was not the case. V knew only part of the truth. All he knew was that someone died, and that you were somehow attached to that person.

He wasn’t there when you heard that voice: the voice filled with sorrow, overwhelming sadness. Voice of the person who was completely broken, the person who’s been left by everyone else. V was sleeping, not even thinking about it, not realizing the pain you were going through, the pain way _worse_ than the physical one he had to experience.

And you also weren’t where you were supposed to be. Not there, in the Mint Eye, where your heart stayed even after you ran away. Maybe if you didn’t leave, or maybe if you came back, or even just tried to come back, telling him to go and take you away… Maybe it’d be different. Maybe he wouldn’t…

Or would it be the end of the both of you?

Was it… what should have happened?

You couldn’t know it.

Overwhelming helplessness made a single tear escape the corner of your eye, your head hurting from all the crying you went through so far. It’s been only three days and you couldn’t stop grieving.

You felt as if you’d never be able to.

☀

His eyes were focused on the screen. Nothing could disturb him as his fingers tapped the keyboard in a regular, almost boring way. The tapping echoed through the room along with the shuffling of aluminum bags being picked up and tossed into a trashcan.

“How come you make such horrible mess even when you don’t move away from your computer…?” the quiet murmur almost reached his ears, but he was too focused to notice it anyway.

The redhead stared at the screen as the satellite photoshoots appeared and for a few seconds, there was such silence surrounding them that Vanderwood was genuinely curious if the agent didn’t faint in the meanwhile. It was the third day since he started working and he didn’t get any sleep in this time. His only friend was this junk food that made him look like a zombie, but at least be productive.

 _And he didn’t even touch the actual work he had to do,_ Vanderwood sighed.

Seven didn’t look good lately. Ever since the mysterious explosion, when he almost barged into the burning residence, he tried to restore all the information from all the sources he could find. The files saved on computers in there were mostly destroyed, but he worked on what he could find.

And it seemed as if everything he found was somehow suspicious.

Vanderwood didn’t question it.

“This…”

Seven’s eyes flickered and his hands froze in the air right before he was about to start tapping again.

His associate stalked closer, quietly glancing over his shoulder, but knowing better than to say a word.

“No…”

His voice died down and his shoulders trembled slightly.

“Huh? Seven? What’s going on?”

In a blink of an eye, he got up, almost tripping over his own feet and making the chair collide loudly with the ground.

Without a single word, he ran to the door.

“Ack- wait! What with the wor-“

“Need to talk to V” Seven mumbled.

A second later, the door slammed behind him.

Vanderwood shook his head in disbelief, staring at the door for a while.

Was he annoyed? More than ever. Was he surprised? _Not at all._  

Before he returned to cleaning all the mess Seven left, he briefly glanced at the satellite photos, still opened on the huge screen of his computer.

In one of them, fairly small, there was a boy. Injured, with his clothes torn apart, which wasn’t too clear because of the photo’s quality. But even the monochromatic coloring didn’t hide his white hair, dirty and messed by the hot wind breathing onto him from the nearby fire.

☀

„We need to talk… about that hacker.”

Seven’s hand gripped tightly his phone as the other made sure his car doesn’t turn suddenly, keeping the steering wheel stable.

“What do you… want to know?” V’s voice was quiet all of sudden, but the boy didn’t really mind it much. His heart was racing from nervousness.

“I… What would I want to know? It’s just…” He took a deep breath. “He didn’t die in the fire.”

“What?”

He could almost feel V’s facade drop and he heard some shuffling, along with someone’s voice telling him to not move too much.

“Wait a moment.”

“Are you still at Zen’s place?”

“Yes, but…”

“I will be there in a few minutes.”

“I… don’t know if it’s a good idea.”

“What? Why?”

There was a short silence on the other side of the phone. V sighed softly and Seven heard even more shuffling. Someone mumbled incoherently, trying to stop him from moving too much, but it seemed that everyone was already too drunk to actually care.

The soft, quiet voice could be heard when V spoke again, probably from a place where he couldn’t be heard by the others.

“Are you sure about that…?”

“I… don’t know if he’s still alive. He’s injured. But he escaped the building, that’s I’m sure of. V… I know it’s been three days, but, he may still be somewhere in this forest. He could be not able to escape too far. No one really checked it. If it’s true, we need to find him before anyone else does. Or before he… I don’t want him to die, V.”

“I don’t either, but…”

“But…?”

“MC.”

“Huh?”

V’s voice quivered slightly, betraying his own nervousness. He was clearly reluctant to talk about this, even more that any second someone could hear what he was talking about.

“She… can’t know.”

“What…?”

“She can’t. Promise me that you won’t tell her about it. Or anyone else in the RFA. And… It’ll be the best if you just leave it to me.”

“Wha- V! Are you kidding…? Did we go through the whole _start to fucking trust others_ phase only to make more secrets…?”

“…”

“MC deserves to know. And I won’t leave it either.”

“Luciel, I really think you shouldn’t-“

“And I think you should take it seriously for once.”

He threw the phone onto the backseat, not even caring whether or not the call ends from the impact.

He drove silently for a few minutes, his mind emptied. He didn’t even know where to go now. V complicated things, as always. _He didn’t change at all._

Rika wasn’t the problem from the beginning. The problem was V himself.

He stopped the car in the middle of the road and stared at the dark surroundings. It was late, almost midnight. He just barged out without a single thought, only knowing what he wants to do. Was he at least a bit considerate? Should he really risk that much only because of this suspicious feeling he had now?

Because he was more than sure that he shouldn’t just leave it like this.

Was there a reason why he was so desperate to continue this inquiry? Why couldn’t he just let go of it?

Maybe it was because it was the first time he met someone who could actually be a competition to him? The hacker’s skills were impressive, that’s for sure. They made Seven curious, more than ever.

From the moment he started digging, he kept having that weird feeling: it didn’t let him give up, even when he collapsed while going to the bathroom during this three days long restless work.

He didn’t hesitate even for a second opening the car’s door, even though he knew how dangerous driving in this state could be. Was it still _devoutness_ or should he already call it _stupidity_?

Now he did hesitate. Something seemed very off in this all. Some pieces of this puzzle seemed to be missing, preventing him from finding the final answer. His mind was empty for a moment, and now all the thoughts came back with such a force that his head spun.

He rushed out of the car, slamming the door closed and leaned against it, breathing heavily.

What was wrong, what was going on?!

He couldn’t calm down now.

He heard the faint sound of his phone on the backseat and turned around, expecting to see V’s number on the screen, ready to reject the call or just ignore it.

But that wasn’t it. The phone showed a number he already knew, even though he didn’t use it too often.

It belonged to MC.

He opened the back door and reached for the phone, pressing the green button and without a word, placing the phone next to his ear.

“Seven…?”

“MC… What’s up?” he asked, trying to sound as cheerful as possible. The tiredness in his voice was more than clear though, he could tell how unconvincing he was right now.

“Is this… true? Is he…” She cleared her throat, trying to sound calm. He could hear her voice trembling though. “I heard you talking with V just now, is he… Is Ray… alive…?”

“It’s…”

“Seven… Please, don’t lie to me… Not you, at least…”

“V wouldn’t approve talking about thi-“

“I couldn’t care less now. Seven. If he really is alive. If there’s a chance. The smallest chance that he didn’t die, that he… That he is somewhere, alone, without anyone to help him now… Please, help me look for him. I can’t leave him, I _can’t_ leave him alone, Seven. Ever again.”

He took a deep breath and held it in his lungs for a while, before letting it out heavily.

He slowly closed the back door and got back onto the driver’s seat. He shook his head in disbelief.

And spoke.

“Wait at Zen’s place, I will pick you up. Sneak out so that V doesn’t notice. He can’t find out. And you need to tell me everything you know. I will need more info. Deal?”

“I’ll be waiting."


	2. Ch. 1: through the darkness.

Day 13th.

“MC… You don’t need to do this…”

“Move.”

Your words didn’t give him a chance to oppose. He reluctantly handed out the keys and moved onto the passenger’s seat.

“I can’t believe you’re as stupid as to drive in such a state. Can you imagine what would have happened if you got distracted? Or worse, fell asleep? You’re _reckless_. You won’t be of any help if you die, you know?”

Seven’s face burned in embarrassment from being scolded as he crossed his arms in a pouty manner, glancing uneasily at you as you turned on the engine. You were a bit unsure as to how use all these weird – fancy – options his car could offer, but seemed to know how to not drive into a tree and that was – for him – good enough.

“So? Where are we going?” you glanced at him, putting up the serious, ready-to-act face. You were determined and you weren’t going to let your emotions take over in a moment like this. Your heart raced from excitement though and your head felt light from how _shook_ by the news you still were.

You forced yourself to suppress these feelings.

“Well, uh…” Seven regained his composure and glanced at you, his fingers tapping rhythmically against the armrest. “I think there’s no point in going to the forest now. I already checked the building, we won’t find anything new in there. And it’s been three days, if he… If he managed to escape, we won’t find him like this anyway.”

“So? What’s the plan?”

You stared at him, listening intently to every single word. Your face was slightly twisted in this adorable kind of frown that proved how focused you were right now.

“I think we should go back to my house now. The direction is… look at the GPS” he pointed the device sticking to the windshield. You nodded, the location was already set in it. “I could check all the satellite recordings I can get to find out whether or not he left the forest. If he did, we will know where to search. It’s… still not everything, because the cameras don’t show a lot, for example, trees get in the way, but we should be able to at least spot whether or not he left the forest… And it’s… a lot of work” he added tiredly, rubbing his eyelids to keep himself awake.

Your face softened.

“I think you should rest before you get to work. You look… like a zombie on caffeine.”

“Then there’s two of us” he murmured, leaning against the window. His gaze wandered to the surroundings.

It was dark around. And peaceful. More than ever.

All these things that happened through the last few days seemed so unreal, even to him. No matter how many things he’s done in his short life, what he went through lately was just… different. Every time he entered the RFA’s chatroom, he used to feel as if it was the only relatively safe place. Now it all flipped. Considering all that happened so far, his agency seemed _almost_ _stable_.

He couldn’t stop thinking about this one puzzle that seemed to be missing. And he was more than sure that V was the one who was keeping the secret for himself.

But V was of no help now. And it was the major problem. Because it made everything not only way more difficult, but also put away in time. And you two were aware that you didn’t have an eternity to find that hacker.

Seven’s eyes closed. He didn’t even know when you were back at his place.

“Mh… Garage” he mumbled, rubbing his eyelids once more as if it could help him fight the exhaustion.

“You really should get some rest” you said softly, leaving the car and opening the door for him.

“Yeah, yeah…”

_“He should also get some actual work done for once.”_

The familiar voice made both of your heads turn in the direction of its source.

The source was pissed.

“What do you think you’re doing?! Are you even aware of your damn deadline?! Because it’s more of a DEAD line than you’d think, jezz!”

Seven gulped. You smiled awkwardly.

“Vanderwood, long time no see!”

He shook his head in disbelief, leaning against the door jamb. It seemed that he’s been waiting for a while now. You were quite sure that Seven didn’t tell him anything about where he’s going, even though you couldn’t know how their last conversation looked like.

“The hell is going on here again…?”

“I’m afraid I will need to steal Seven from you for a while” you admitted. The man sighed.

“I’m here to make sure he does his job in time, if he doesn’t then-“

“He _will_.”

“I will?” Seven gasped in surprise.

“Yes, you will.” You rolled your eyes and crossed your arms, stepping closer to the agent. “But I don’t promise it’ll be as good as it should... We don’t have an easy task, after all…” An idea suddenly popped into your mind and you couldn’t help but find it way more appealing than you probably should. “That could obviously change, if only… you decided to help us a little.” Your eyes flickered. “The sooner we get it done, the sooner Seven takes care of his job, right?”

“Not good, not good…” The mentioned redhead murmured in panic.

“Ack, stop mumbling!”

“Will you help us then?” You smiled widely, your eyes sparkling all of sudden.

“Ah… I shouldn’t, but–“

“I knew you’d agree!” You chirped, grasping Seven’s sleeve and tugging him inside the house.

“–guess I have no choice.”

And if there were any doubts left, your voice made it more than obvious that any arguing would be pointless now.

☀

_It wasn’t easy._

Smiling was never easy. Not when the fear was overwhelming, and the hope pouring onto you so unstable.

Yes, the news did make you happy. How would they not? There was a chance. That he lived. The person you unwarily gave yourself into, who confessed to you in his – as one would say – _last moments._

His words left you confused though. And as much as you never wanted him to die, you suddenly started to realize that you had no idea what would be the right thing to do if you were to find him.

Should you reciprocate his feelings? Or take him to a hospital right away as – you were sure of that – he needed help? Or maybe let Seven take him to his agency, as he was going to from the beginning? And what actually should you tell him?

_Was there even ‘the right thing to do’ in this case?_

You wanted to see him badly. You wanted to make sure he’s okay. Embrace him, as you said you would do when he felt sick. Let him lay his head on your lap, hum a lullaby, make him rest at ease for once, not care about the world, no matter how cruel it was.

And while thinking about it, you realized that the only thing you wanted to tell him was, that you’d never leave him again.

Was it love? Adoration? Attachment? Some twisted version of Stockholm Syndrome?

_How in the world were you supposed to know…?_

You’ve known him for ten days. No less and no more. Ten days passed ever since he sent you the message. The first message that – you were sure of it now – changed your life in a way you’d never expect. And your consent back then meant that you willingly let it just happen. That day, you deprived yourself from the right to blame anyone else.

_It was so easy. To just let yourself dream for a while. To think, why not? To let the stranger guide you through the darkness, because all the light you irrevocably left behind._

And as the time passed, you found out that this stranger valued you way more than anyone else you’ve ever met. And that you couldn’t help but find yourself attached to the person that accepted you. Out of all the people. The person who acknowledged all your flaws and was still able to forgive you, for everything.

Even for running away, no matter how much it must have hurt him.

There was nothing you could do other than to accept him as well. With his own flaws and that distressing need to be accepted.

You admired him. He was strong. So strong that it let you feel stronger as well, able to fight with whatever you would have on your mind while at your worst.

The smile on his pale lips, meant for you and you only. The way his eyes flickered when you said something nice, as your words meant to him more than the world. His confused, flushed face every time you asked him how to pursue him, as if he was a character from the game.

_From the game…_

All the uneasiness, the reason why you decided to run away in the end. It all was only… because of his lies. That’s all that kept you away from each other in the end.

_Lies. Ray’s lies. False words. False attitude._

_He needed you. Because from the very beginning, he wanted to use you._

Your room. Your beautiful, pink room, with all these beautiful drapes and the bedclothes so soft you felt like floating in them.

The breakfast. The lunch. The dinner.

The garden. The most beautiful garden you’ve ever seen.

_Roses._

Blue roses you fell in love with the very first moment you saw them.

Tea roses, almost shining in the darkening place, thick stalks raising higher and higher, surrounding you from every side, completely cutting off the view of the starlit sky, as if it never existed.

_Lies._

To use you. To get close to you, so that you’d do what he needed you for.

_Would he ever really love you? Would anyone? Want to get close to you?_

You escaped your old life, poor soul. And what did you get…?

_Aren’t you helpless…?_

He would never really like you, you know?

_He would never care about you._

_Why would you want to find him? The person who lied to you, the one who only wanted to use you, who will do it many more times because you will surely let him, helpless girl…_

“Ray…”

_He will never tell you the truth. No one will. Because you accepted them._

_The lies._

“…”

_All the lies._

“MC?”

Vanderwood’s soft voice brought you back to reality and you looked up at him, confused. You fell asleep, you realized. When did you let the tears run down your cheeks though, you didn’t even know. Your body was trembling slightly, but he didn’t question it, his eyes focused on you though, as if silently judging your pathetic form.

“Come back home” he said. “It’s cool outside. You’ll catch a cold.”

You nodded and got up. The stars above your head flickered, staring at you in silence. Judging.

Your soul was in pain.

_“…Ray, where are you…?”_

☀

He didn’t know.

The darkness surrounded him like a warm quilt, so tightly that he started to suffocate in it. Everything was blurred, pieces of reality connecting and scattering around, confusing him even more.

But was it even _reality_ he was staring at? It didn’t look like one.

Everything mixed together, creating chaos even he wasn’t able to understand. But he could clearly see all the pieces and these terrified him to the core.

Sharp needles dug into his skin, making him writhe in agony. It seemed as if they swallowed him whole, trapping in a painfully small cage.

The needles changed suddenly, every single one turning into a thorn, blue rose’s creepers tightening around him, thick aroma filling his nostrils.

The rose turned into the whole garden, a ruined one, with all the plants withered or broken. The air was thick from the smoke that got in here from every corner.

The smoke took over the garden and he found himself in a fire-filled room; the fume intensifying even more as he tried to take a breath. It swallowed him whole, filling his insides with nothing more but an overwhelming pain, as spurious as the way the images he saw changed, and yet as real as it could be, making him cry out, even though he couldn’t know whether or not anyone would hear him now.

He didn’t know how much of it was real. And even if he tried, he wouldn’t be able to find out.

He moved in panic, trying to get away from the pain’s source.

But it was all over him by now.

_„Mr. Ray? Can you hear me?”_

He could.

“ _Please, look at me if you can hear me…”_

He tried to do so, but his head spun as soon as he moved it so he quickly gave up, letting out a soft groan.

The annoying ringing in his ears wouldn’t stop and every attempt to move ended with a new pain blossoming in a different area of his body.

“Try to not move much yet… You don’t look… well.”

It sounded more like ‘you look like you’re dying and _it’d be better for you not to hurry up’_.

Everything still felt unreal. During past few hours he seemed to float somewhere between consciousness and dreams, and he wasn’t sure which one was worse. Now that he managed to wake up a bit more, it took him a few more minutes to open his eyes again and have a brief look at the surroundings.

It was just a room. An average room, probably in some cheap flat. The opened window was letting in some cool air, along with various sounds of the city beneath them. After such a long time he spent in a forest, it felt suffocating to even hear these noises. The polluted air would make him sick.

The woman sitting in a chair next to him looked at him with worry. There was something white in her hand, but his vision was still a bit blurred and he didn’t see it well enough.

His gaze rested on the window. The sky was blue, with slight glimpses of clouds, looking like cotton candy.

His eyes closed again, but only for a few seconds before he opened them and, letting out a soft pant, supported himself, trying to sit up.

“Y-you need to stay down, Mr. Ray…”

He didn’t listen.

Resting against the back of the couch he was laying on, he could feel his head still spinning and it surprised him that he didn’t fall back down right away. Regaining his senses, he felt slightly better. Only the pain wouldn’t subside; the one in his head, even more intense than what he was used to. The one in his chest, spreading up to his neck and right chin. And down, to the lower back. His left hand hurt just as much.

“Who are you?” he asked.

“I’m Miya, believer num-“

“Whatever” he murmured, closing his eyes once more.

Tiredness started to take over him. He glanced at the white cloth in the woman’s hand. It seemed to be wet, but a bit dirty. She must have just finished cleaning his wounds, he seemed to have quite a few. How long has he been unconscious then…?

He tried to rest on his left hand, but took it away in an instant, groaning. Unwelcomed pain made his vision turn white for a second and he fell onto his shoulder and froze, not daring to move – not wanting any more wounds to suddenly show themselves in a similar way.

He glanced at his hand briefly, not even noticing when a warm quilt covered him up, as it didn’t help the shudders in his body quiet down even a little. The woman stood up, but he didn’t notice it either.

His whole arm was covered in bandage; strong smell of an unknown medication reached his nostrils as soon as he moved it slightly in a futile attempt to get rid of the dressing, wanting to at least see how it looked like underneath.

The woman quickly reached and held his hand carefully, managing to stop him from doing so.

“Mr. Ray, don’t be stubborn, please…”

He glanced at her with annoyance.

“What happened to my hand…?”

His words made her freeze and she stared at him for a moment.

Pity was all too clear on her face. He frowned, annoyed even more. His body trembled and he curled up slightly, trying to ignore it. She let out a soft sigh, sitting back on the chair.

In a careful, calm motion, she opened the glass bottle she was holding now. The familiar scent reached his senses now and he moved uneasily.

“Please, don’t move anymore. You’ll feel good soon.”

“N-no… Don’t give me this anymore…” he mumbled, shaking his head. The sudden movement made his vision go black for a second and he gasped.

As soon as he opened his mouth, the liquid filled it, making him choke on it slightly.

He tried to split it out, but the woman kept her hand on his lips, the other one pinching his nose.

Tears prickled in his eyes as he felt it go down his throat. And he gave up, swallowing the rest.

“Relax, Mr. Ray. The pain will go away when you close your eyes.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oui, the 1st chapter finished~  
> It kinda annoys me that Ao3 doesn't include something like prologue and as a result, first chapter is the second chapter;;;;  
> I may or may have not mentioned, but the updates will be rather rare. I'm a college student. But I'm trying, I promise;; lol


	3. Ch. 2: in disguise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for taking so long~

_“Saeran, you’re strong. It will be alright. You can endure everything.”_

_He trusted these words, echoing in his head along with the pounding pain, his head feeling as if it’s about to burst._

_He didn’t know if he should trust her, but he felt as if this woman was his only hope now. He didn’t know her for too long yet, but he was sure she meant well. Unlike everyone else he’s met in his life. She wanted to make him happy._

_She wouldn’t leave him, would she?_

_She said so and he couldn’t help but trust her._

_Even in this pain he was going through just now. It was paralyzing, overwhelming, and yet it was nothing he couldn’t go through, because she kept telling him she wouldn’t leave._

_And she didn’t. Every time he suffered like this, every time his head pounded from the substance she gave him, she’d stay with him, soothe him, run her fingers through his hair to comfort him, telling him it’ll be over soon._

_He didn’t know if she wouldn’t sooner or later leave him as well. But he couldn’t help but let himself be naïve in this moment, letting her lead him forward._

_He stared blankly at the wall._

_“I need to go, take care of the others. But I will come back, I promise. So please, wait for me.”_

_He nodded shortly and so she left._

_The place became suffocating and unbearable the very moment he was alone again. He didn’t know whether he wanted to cry, scream or run, but he felt sick._

_It was stinky around him, he heard screams in other rooms too. Every single time someone screamed in pain, he’d sob in pain along. And every time someone yelled, he’d curl up, trembling, trying to push away all the painful memories._

_His Savior never screamed at him. She wasn’t like that woman he used to live with. She didn’t scream. She said she’d come back; not to hurt him, but to help him._

_He had to trust her._ He didn’t have anyone else.

 _The walls were cold, the air – almost thick. His breath was shallow, as if there was no much oxygen left in here, ever since no windows would let more inside. He didn’t even know how long has he been here, but he knew lots of people were here before him. There were some dry substances on the plain, wooden bed he was also laying on, but he tried not to think about them. Ensuring himself it was_ only _dried blood was the safest option to not overthink it._

_In the moments when Savior came down here, it wasn’t so bad anymore. Her presence lightened up the whole space. She was beautiful and kind, albeit intimidating, making him almost ashamed that she had to go there for him and sit in such a dirty, awful place._

_She deserved way, way more. He didn’t know her that well yet, but he was sure of it._

_She made him feel at ease whenever she appeared._

_“Savior…”_

_His heart clenched whenever she was away. It hurt to have to wait for her, because her presence made everything easier._

_And yet, she never_ belonged _to him to begin with. He wanted her to focus on him only, but she was the type of person who takes care of everyone, eventually not being close to any._

_He was aware of that. And it hurt that she’d never be as dependent on him as he was on her._

_He felt lonely once again, filled with sorrow. But the soft voice in his head didn’t let him cry, didn’t let him break down as he desperately wished to. It wasn’t giving him any relief._

_“You can do this,_ Ray _. You’re never allowed to give up.”_

☀

Day 15th.

He kept repeating these words when his head felt as if it was about to burst. He curled up on the bed he was using now, trying to focus on anything else other than what he was feeling. Even pain from the burns wasn’t unbearable now,  only the numbness spreading over his body seemed troublesome.

Eventually, he decided to get up.

Miya, the woman that ‘rescued’ him, went out a while ago and didn’t tell him, where. She wasn’t telling him anything about how were the other Believers doing nor what happened to the RFA in the end. It’s been five days ever since he lost contact with the world.

He had to find a phone.

His own has been destroyed, that he was sure of. He left it in Mint Eye, no chance it’d be of any use to him now.

He took a few steps towards the door, leaning against the wall to keep himself stable. He didn’t feel sick at least, only a bit dizzy, but the pain wouldn’t subside no matter what he did anyway, so he just tried his best to ignore it.

He entered the bathroom and the moment his eyes accidentally fell upon the mirror, he froze.

He tugged off his shirt in an instant.

His whole torso was bandaged, along with his arm and hand. Another bandage was around his neck. It didn’t hurt at all. He couldn’t feel anything. Along with the elixir, Miya must have given him some painkillers, apparently.

Because when he ripped off the bandages, he was more than sure it should hurt as hell.

The skin on his neck and upper chest was red. Deep red. There was almost no skin left there at all. Ripping off the bandage so roughly reopened the wounds, making fresh blood run down his chest, along with the sticky ointment Miya must have treated him with when he was unconscious. From the way she wrapped bandage around the burns he guessed she didn’t have much experience with such things. Neither he had though.

The burn on his arm was a bit better, only covered with blisters that would sooner or later go off. But he guessed it would be more efficient to let them ‘breathe’, without the bandages. The woman must have supposed it’s not too safe to leave them out considering he’d thrash around while sleeping.

There was a scar on his forehead too, as if something heavy hit him hard enough to break the skin.

His ribs were dark from bruises.

It didn’t hurt. But it should.

He felt numb.

His stomach twisted and he kneeled by the toilet to throw up the food he was given a few hours earlier.

He didn’t know what else other than the elixir Miya stuffed him with, but at least it worked. He didn’t feel anything from these wounds.

And yet the pain in his head would be the one considered unbearable.

He sat on the floor, leaning against the wall. He felt cold, the wounds seemed to take all the heat away from him. Now that he didn’t have any clothes on his upper body, the cool air of the room surrounded him, making him shiver.

But he couldn’t let himself rest like this. He had things to do. He needed to find Savior, whatever happened to her. He only hoped she’d be safe. He needed to make sure other Believers were safe as well. And a lot of other things…

He rested his healthy hand on the toilet seat to support himself while standing up. He reached to the sink and took a cup standing by to fill it with water, then drink it – definitely too fast, but he didn’t care.

He decided to check the other rooms. There _must_ have been a computer.

The kitchen was small and empty, he didn’t find any food, only a few bottles of water. He wasn’t hungry anyway, but the water would be helpful. In one of the drawers, there were a few small bottles of turquoise liquid. He ignored them.

He went to the small living room, filled with as much as sofa, a few drawers, wardrobe and TV. He supposed Miya slept there when he took the bed. He wandered around the room and checked the drawers, but – aside from TV – not a single electrical device was there to be found.

He turned on TV, but – as he expected, actually – the news didn’t show anything he’d be interested in.

He went back to the bedroom.

In the only drawer here, there were only some ointments, boxes and first aid kit that seemed almost empty by now.

He sat back on the bed and shifted to lay as comfortably as it was possible, which actually meant just avoiding touching the wounds, nothing else really mattered to him now more than to getting himself to a state good enough to leave this place and do what he was supposed to.

But he couldn’t even force himself to think about it for long as the peaceful dream took over his body, quickly giving him a release from the torture of living.

☀

“Please… Five minutes more, dammit…”

“You will sleep when you’re dead, MC.”

“Then hurry up and kill me…”

He smirked and ruffled your hair, making you grumble but – finally – open your eyes. You shifted slightly, acknowledging the surroundings.

You were sitting on the passenger seat in a car, covered with a black hoodie. The owner of the said hoodie was sitting next to you, focused on the road. He had only a red shirt on, the silver cross on his chest glistened in the glow of street lights.

It was a very early morning, as the digital clock on the radio stated. Soft music played in the background, probably the only reason why you managed to stay asleep for so long.

You were driving through suburbs of some city you didn’t recognize. The drive lasted the whole night and – after spending the whole day trying to help Seven (or actually, trying to not disturb him as you turned out to be quite _useless_ ), the whole night has been spent on the road. Your body was stiff from the position you were in and you tried to cover yourself with the hoodie even more, clearly unpleased with the cool, morning air.

“So, what are we at…?” you mumbled. “And aren’t you cold? We can stop and get my jacket from the trunk.”

You two were aware what you were doing may take longer than one day, so you obviously prepared for all the cases you could predict. Low temperature was relatively easy to predict.

“We can do it later, if you want. I’m fine. Anyway.” He was so in hurry last evening that he didn’t really explain much to you. “I looked carefully over the map of the surrounding area and, thanks to the satellite recordings I found, I figured out the only road he could have used while leaving. Or anyone else who would be able to take him away. And it turned out that yes, at that time someone used this road. Driving their way to some point and then in the opposite direction. If this person wasn’t looking for the hacker, then I don’t know what they were doing, considering it was pretty much middle of night.”  

He glanced at you, but you didn’t say anything, waiting for him patiently to continue. You only hoped he wouldn’t use any of his complicated slang to explain you how he came to these conclusions.

“Anyway. There are only two directions they may have used further, but the trees are in the way and I don’t know which one is the right one. I think it’s most possible they went to this city, because the other is way further away. They may have went even farther, but so far, we should start looking here for any hints. I can hack into the CCTV cameras everywhere, but it’ll be quite time consuming and we can’t ignore what we can find out from other resources.”

Now you looked up at him.

“Other resources?”

“People. In short. I suppose that most of these Believers chose to stay together, but it’s hard to find a place for so many people, isn’t it? Most of them were probably considered missing, coming back home would be troublesome, and I doubt they’d be even willing to do so. So I can bet if we look into the _underground_ of this place, we’ll sooner or later find some of them. And that’s how we can find the hacker as well.”

“So… in other words, you’re gonna sit with the computer and look for the CCTVs, while I’m talking to strange people, yes…?”

His eyes widened as he stared at you, for a second forgetting about controlling the car. He quickly composed himself.

“A-are you crazy? I would never let you do something like this. Vanderwood will take care of it. He decided to go there on his own so he probably already started searching.”

“So… I’m useless again” you summarized.

“You can take care of food supplies since Mary will be busy” he offered with a goofy smile.

You rolled your eyes.

“Will try not to poison you guys.”

“Thankie~”

He chuckled and then fell silent again, focusing back on the road.

You leaned against the window and closed your eyes, trying to get a few more minutes of sleep, but it turned out you weren’t woken up for no reason; the car finally stopped and you looked around, memorizing the surroundings.

You still were in some rather poor district, definitely in the suburbs. Buildings were built tightly next to each other, not giving much space in between the rows, only as much as roads and the narrow paths for people.

Seven drove onto the path to stop the car and frowned all of sudden.

“…I didn’t predict that.”

You glanced at him, only partly suspecting what he meant.

“My car is… visible. Way too visible. I decided we should stay in this place to be _unnoticed_. But I… didn’t think about that…” He banged his head on the steering wheel. “…I’m so stupid.”

You couldn’t help but laughed softly.

“We’ll think of something. We can park somewhere closer to the city center and go back there some other way. By feet, for example. I doubt we’ll need to use this car too often, to be honest.”

“It’s still a long way to the center though” he whined.

“You can leave me with the bags here and I will wait for you” you offered. “You won’t have to drag everything.”

He whined once more.

 _Like a child,_ you thought.

“Can’t let you do that… This place isn’t the safest possible, especially now that we have cult members on the streets…”

You rolled your eyes.

“Then I don’t know what to do. Think of something, _Zero._ ” You purposely used the other number, making him glare at you, a bit annoyed. Zero was definitely _not_ a lucky number.

“…I will leave my baby for a few minutes. Nothing bad should happen. Nothing. Bad. Should Happen” he repeated. Paranoia much?

“No one will steal it, chill out.”

“But what if someone touches it and-“

“Oh my god, Seven, you’re exaggerating.”

“My baby…” he whined once more, but your glare made him quiet down in an instant. “…I-I will take you to the flat I rented and then come back here to find a good place to hide the car.”

“Well, that’s a good plan. I didn’t know you rented a flat though.”

“It’s… small. But it was the only place no one would ask us about anything. Our identity is safe here.”

“Unlike your car” you smirked.

Seven grumbled quietly.

“Get up, gotta hurry.”

“Aye~”

The place was rather quiet and empty at this hour, the road was rather narrow and didn’t predict larger traffic. As you remembered from your way here, another, wider road was on the other side of the row of buildings – old houses that looked as if they were about to fall apart – Seven stopped his car by.

As much as cars were rather rare here in general, you couldn’t not notice all the dirt around, trash and broken glass shreds laying on the street as if no one really cared about it. The smell was _at least_ unpleasant.

“Let’s get in” you murmured, not really encouraged by these unwelcoming surroundings.

Seven looked around carefully before getting the bags from the trunk and going in the direction of one of the buildings. The elevator was out of order and so you were forced to go by feet onto the fourth floor. You didn’t complain much, but – what could you say – you were impressed Seven didn’t start to, considering he was carrying all these bags and even refused your help.

Obviously, he mentioned it before to be working for some _agency_ , but you didn’t know what exactly was he doing there. It’d be obvious for him to just sit in front of his computers and… well, _hack_. But the way he seemed to easily do all this practical stuff made you suppose that he had more experience in this than it’d look like at first.

The flat he rented was, as he said, quite small. It was… well, it _was_ furnished. There was a creaking bed with a pierced mattress in one room, along with an old TV that probably showed in greys, and a small drawer with an old, empty vase. In the other, also small room, there was a sofa and an old wardrobe… without doors. There was a kitchen and bathroom with only the necessary things inside; everything looked as if no one really took care of this place in years, even though people surely lived there in the meanwhile.

“Nice place, isn’t it?” Seven said happily and you weren’t sure whether he was serious or sarcastic, actually.

“U-um…” you stuttered. “Could… be worse” you noticed, trying to cheer yourself up. _It didn’t work._

Seven smirked at your reaction.

“You’ll get used. Open the windows and let some air inside. We’ll clean it up a little and it’ll look pretty.”

“It’d look better… with some flowers” you said, staring at the vase standing lonely in the bedroom. “Hey, what about we hold a housewarming party? _Maybe this one will be successful_.” Your lips curled up in a very bitter smile.

“Oh, great idea, we can invite all the cats in the neighborhood” Seven chirped along, placing the bags on the floor. “Okay. Try to get cozy, I will be back in a few hours. Also…” His eyebrows furrowed slightly. “Don’t go out, and don’t open the door even if someone knocks. Just pretend no one’s home, okay?”

“What if neighbors want to say hi?” you asked, actually rather ensured no one would come.

“Just pretend not to be here. And, um… Don’t use the kitchen, I’ll need to make sure all the pipes work. We don’t want to have a fire here… Be careful with the bathroom too…” he smiled awkwardly.

You rolled your eyes but nodded. The idea of having to pay for any damage the previous tenant caused wasn’t really what you wished for on the first day here.

“I’ll just take a nap” you said, but he was already at the doorstep, probably not hearing you anymore.

“I’ll buy some food on my way here, so be patient.”

“See you later, Seven.”

 And so you were left alone.

It was still early morning, but you seriously considered taking a nap. The night was longer than you’d wish and – no matter how comfortable – you were happy to not have to use Seven’s car any time soon.

You only hoped that your stay here would be as safe as he said.

**–– MC has entered the chatroom ––**

**MC** : Hello, guys…

**–– Zen has entered the chatroom ––**

**Zen** : MC!

 **Zen** : You’re here.

 **Zen** : Haven’t seen you in a while, you didn’t even say bye after our night…

 **MC** : …You make it sound _weird_ , Zen.

 **Zen** : lol sry

**–– Yoosung** **★** **has entered the chatroom ––**

**Yoosung** ★: MC!

 **Yoosung** ★: …Are you okay?

 **Yoosung** ★: You disappeared so suddenly…

 **Yoosung** ★: As I think about it, Seven hasn’t been here lately too…

 **Yoosung** ★: V, on the other hand

 **Yoosung** ★: Comes here almost every day and asks about you two.

 **Yoosung** ★: But he’s not here now…

 **MC** : Did he want something from us…?

 **Yoosung** ★: It seemed so, but I can’t be sure…

 **Zen** : Wait

 **Zen** : Did you say

 **Zen** : “us”?

 **Zen** : Are you with Seven?

 **MC** : …

 **Yoosung** ★: Whaaa

 **Yoosung** ★: Are you???

 **MC** : Guys;;

 **MC** : I’m

 

You hesitated. Seven told you to keep it in secret from V. If you wrote it in the chat, he’d surely see it later. He’d surely figure out that you two ended up together like this.

No matter how much you _hated_ to lie, you couldn’t reveal this secret. It wasn’t only yours, after all.

 

 **MC** : I’m at home, just this

 **MC** : I think I need a break from everything… A lot happened, after all.

 **Zen** : Figures…

 **Yoosung** ★: Guess you’re tired T-T

 **Zen** : It’s understandable…

 **MC** : I was about to take a nap now so

 **MC** : See you later!

 **Zen** : Good bye.

 **Yoosung** ★: See you!

 **Yoosung** ★: Ah, my classes start, I’ll be going off as well. Bye!

**–– MC has left the chatroom ––**

**–– Yoosung** **★** **has left the chatroom ––**

**–– V has entered the chatroom ––**

**V** : Oh

 **V** : MC was here, I missed her…

 **Zen** : You ok?

 **V** : I’m good. But a bit disappointed I didn’t get to talk to her…

 **Zen** : She said she just needs some time…

 **V** : Yeah, I saw it…

 **Zen** : It must have been tough for her, don’t you think…?

 **Zen** : The whole Mint Eye thing…

 **Zen** : She’s been there for a while, after all

 **Zen** : And now the whole place is

 **V** : Zen.

 **Zen** : destroyed

 **Zen** : Hm?

 **V** : There’s only the two of us here now, but

 **V** : Please, don’t mention this if MC’s here

 **V** : I suppose she should just

 **V** : forget

 **Zen** : …

 **V** : _About everything._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A lot of things came up lately, the chapter was almost done before Halloween already, but I didn't have time to edit it... ;;; Updates won't be too often as I already mentioned, but I hope you were happy to get this one ^_^


	4. Ch. 3: prepare for the angst.

Day 18th.

“Where do you always take it from?”

His words were rather quiet as he spoke, staring at the woman as she took out another bottle and handed it to him.

At first he used to struggle, something kept telling him that he shouldn’t be taking it anymore. He desired the relief of not having to take it, of the feeling of not being so overwhelmed by the drug.

But the addiction was stronger, way too strong to stop.

Without a word, he opened the bottle and gulped down the whole liquid, giving the bottle back to the woman. Its awfully bitter taste wouldn’t make him flinch anymore, but he really hated it.

“Someone’s still making it. We keep taking it.”

_“You?”_

“Believers. There’s still a lot of us.”

He nodded shortly and watched as she took her own portion. She was taking way less than him, which made him wonder, did she really need less? Or was it just that he could endure more, because of how used to it his body already was?

He wrapped arms around his knees. He felt way better than days ago. The wounds were still too fresh to leave them without care, but he could move around freely. Ignoring the pain was easy now.

“You still didn’t tell me what happened to everyone…. I don’t even know what day it is” he muttered, leaning against the wall.

Miya looked up at him and smiled softly, packing all the things back to the bag she brought. She brushed her long hair aside, staring at him in that weird, mother-like way.

“Everyone escaped, thanks to you…”

“I know, but… What happened to the savior? And to that group… to the RFA?”

A pained expression crossed her face.

“Guess they… won.”

His eyes didn’t leave her for a few long seconds, as if seeking for a confirmation. The woman looked down, shamefully placing her hands on her lap.

“The savior has been… taken away from us. And the traitor… is safe with the RFA.”

“…I see” he replied shortly, as if not really wanting to talk about it. He thought he’d feel wrath the very moment he heard news like this, but he didn’t really have strength for that.

His eyebrows furrowed when he was thinking of something for a short while.

“And what with that girl who was with them? Is she… with that man now? Did she… choose him?”

There was confusion written all over the woman’s face the very moment he spoke these words.

“…Never mind. Forget about what I just said.”

“You mean… the woman that’s been in Magenta? The one our Savior favored as well…”

“I said, _forget about what I just said”_ he spoke out slowly, his voice resembling a growl. The woman obediently quieted down.

The silence between them lasted a few minutes. The boy’s face relaxed a little and he closed his eyes in attempt to take a nap, which didn’t seem to bother the woman; she was just sitting there without a word, as she always did – ready to act if she was needed, or to fulfill his commands. He was the one in charge here. The one everyone was supposed to look up to. _The Savior’s right hand_.

A while later, his eyes opened again as a sudden thought passed his mind.

He glanced at the woman, sitting by the desk and apparently slowly dozing off as well. He reached with his foot and nudged her chair. Miya raised her head abruptly and looked at him, listening carefully to whatever he had to say.

“Hand me your phone” he said quickly. And from his tone, it was obvious that he wouldn’t accept a refusal.

☀

The man’s eyes skimmed carefully over the crowd, which wasn’t noticeable since they were covered with dark glasses he brought particularly for this purpose. He tried to look as average as possible, but you supposed the dark, leather clothes already looked unusual enough for him to be noticed by any people that’d look for anything unusual.

There was some kind of a method in it. Just as he knew that people who looked unusual usually were as usual as possible, probably no one would take him seriously if he looked like this. He’d maybe gather attention at some points, but no one should be actually concerned with his presence – at least no one who’s attention would actually mean a trouble.

“How’s the cocktail?” you asked politely, glancing at the glass in front of him. “You didn’t even touch it, it looks weird. We’re on a _date_ , remember?” you laughed softly.

Vanderwood rolled his eyes.

“We’re _pretending_ to be on a date, and that’s a difference” he exclaimed, taking a sip of the cocktail. He apparently liked the flavor, because he started drinking it more frequently.

“Did you notice anything?” you asked with a soft smile, not wanting to actually bother him, but the boredom caused by the amount of sitting here without anything to do was just kicking in too strongly for your liking.

“I will surely do if you stop disturbing me” the man answered, sending you a soft, insincere smile.

You laughed sheepishly and obediently stared down at your smoothie, deciding not to try to talk to him any time soon. From what you noticed, he used to speak way too honestly which may have been found rude, but it was just his style and he didn’t really have anything against you. He generally tried not to involve himself into anything that didn’t bother him much enough.

As much as you knew so far, Vanderwood wasn’t too talkative. He’d yell at Seven once in a while and then pretty much not talk to anyone for a few hours at least. But even if he had a lot to do outside, he still managed to help with the duties in the flat, all the things you didn’t manage to do due to your general inexperience.

It was a miracle he eventually decided to help you two. But Seven said that if you manage to find the hacker, Vanderwood could recruit him to the agency. You – of course – weren’t going to let that happen, but as long as Vanderwood was motivated, you didn’t oppose.

It was already the third day since you moved here. Everyone was working as hard as they were able to, especially Seven who didn’t let himself rest even for a while. It seemed weirdly natural to see him this way, but you hoped he wouldn’t overwork himself to the point of getting sick. All you could do was to provide meals and make sure he drank water. But once again, you turned out to be painfully useless.

Whole days you would spend taking care of the housework, but it didn’t take as much time as you expected so you’d always spend hours walking around the city, seeking for any hints about the Mint Eye or even faces you’d be able to recall.

But once Seven realized that you’re trying to involve yourself in the searching, he made Vanderwood take care of you and as much as normally it’d only bring you into potentially bigger trouble, watching the surroundings was pretty much safe.

You were bored and you definitely wanted to do something about it. But just as you were about to offer visiting a more _exciting_ place, your phone vibrated, almost startling you as you surely didn’t expect anything interesting to happen at that moment. Assuming that it’s probably Seven with some new info, you took out you phone and pressed the green button.

On the other side, there was silence and you glanced at the screen to make sure you pressed the right button.

“Hello? Is anybody here…?”

A hitched breath coming from the speaker caught your attention, but no one spoke.

“Hello…?”

Vanderwood glanced at you.

“Who’s calling?” he asked, as if it was the most obvious thing to ask.

“Well, it’s…”

Whatever you were about to say, you weren’t able to finish, because exactly at that moment the both of you were greeted with a very loud and specific voice that made you turn your heads towards it source.

“MC, Vanderwood, wooohooo!” Seven’s enthusiastic voice was as recognizable as his red hair, so you didn’t need to even look around to know where he is. “How’s your date going, guys~?”

“Was brilliant until you appeared” Vanderwood muttered. “What are you even doing here?! Aren’t you busy with something…?”

In your phone, a cough could be heard, along with ragged breaths that made you frown deeply and turn your attention back to the call.

“A-are you okay…? Should I call the ambulance…?” you asked, but your words went unnoticed to the two as exactly at that moment, the redhead spoke again.

“Actually, I came to tell you some great news!” Seven announced. “And they’re so great I decided to tell you face to face~”

“You could have called us” Vanderwood grumbled.

“It wouldn’t be face to face!”

“Exactly. We wouldn’t have to see your face.”

Seven pouted and you couldn’t help but laugh at it. Whoever was on the other side of the phone, didn’t spoke and you took the phone away from your ear, deciding to just end the call. But, what you haven’t noticed before, it already ended and you threw your phone back into the bag.

“Who was that?” Vanderwood turned his head towards you; apparently he only was concerned with the event.

“Someone has forgotten to lock their phone” you shrugged. “They hung up. Never mind. Seven!” You glanced towards him now. “What are the news?”

“Actually, I ran out of wires so I came out to buy them and decided to pay you a visit in the meanwhile” he smiled cheerfully. “A-ah, but, before Vandy uses violence” he added quickly, seeing the agent’s hand automatically move towards his taser “I have some good info as well. There’s one place that looks quite average, but I’ve seen a lot of people coming in and out the building. I checked the records from other days, and it seems the activity increased the day after the big boom, and was still increasing in the past few days. It still doesn’t mean that’s what we’re looking for, but we definitely should check it out. It’ll be surely more productive than just observing the passers, right?”

“Got it.” Vanderwood nodded. “Tell me more about that place and I’ll get inside tonight” he announced.

“I’m going with you” you said instantly.

The both of them looked at you as if you grew a second head.

“You’ll stay with me. I’ll need you” Seven said after a short while.

You narrowed your eyes.

“Aren’t you just making excuses to keep me away…?”

“Well, it is an excuse, but I will really need it. I’ll have my eye on Vanderwood, so I’ll need someone to do some basic tasks so that I don’t get distracted” he assured you.

You sighed deeply.

“Okay, then… Be careful” you mumbled at Vanderwood, who only raised his eyebrow, as if entering a building supposedly filled with cult members was something difficult to do; apparently, his experience made things like this as easy as preparing food, which he – as you already noticed – was incredibly good at.

Seven beamed, apparently happy with the positive response. He seemed incredibly well as for someone who held on minimum of sleep and had definitely more troubles on his head than an average twenty years old should have. But you could see the dark circles under his eyes, and the way his lids would shiver ever so slightly, because he barely could keep up with being as enthusiastic as it was only possible.

You had no idea why would he pretend so hard to be happy, but then a brief thought passed your mind, that maybe, just maybe, he’s doing it for you, to not let the both of you fall into despair you already once were in.

“Shall we go home then?” you asked soon later.

“Yeah, I’d like to prepare” Vanderwood announced, quickly after doing his best to finish his cocktail, to not let a single drop go to waste. You only wondered if the cocktail was that good or if that was one of symptoms of his apparent OCD.

You were painfully aware that even if you suggested staying here and continuing the observation at least for now, a) they’d say you’re stupid, and b) you wouldn’t be able to discover anything anyway; without Vanderwood’s attention or Seven’s skills, you were, once more, useless.

You finished your smoothie without really thinking about it, and that was when the three of you decided to go home, so that you’d – as Vanderwood said – be able to prepare. The night was going to be tough. For all three of you.

☀

An old, monochromatic phone collided with the wall. The battery fell out and the glass broke, small pieces of it sticking to the tape underneath.

The woman curled up at the sudden outburst of ragged breaths and violence – because if she didn’t move away in time, the phone would probably collide with her head instead.

A weak laugh escaped the boy’s throat and she stared at him, horrified with the unexpected reaction. His hands gripped his head, tugging on the hair so much she feared he’d rip it out. What has he heard? What has he done? What… was happening?

It took a few more minutes for his breath to slow down a little and the fingers released his hair, falling limply to his sides.

The next laugh that escaped him wasn’t a nervous laugh of hysteria. It was dry, ridden of emotions, and terrifying.

“…a date.”

The quiet huff escaped his lips, so vague it wasn’t really obvious if he said an actual word.

“Very well, then…” He chuckled. But there was no tone of amusement in his voice either. “You chose them… Very well…”

“M-Mr Ray…?” Miya stuttered, trying to find out what was wrong.

_“Shut up.”_

She obediently fell silent.

“Miya.” He glanced at her after a short while and she looked up, waiting for the superior one’s command. “We have a new goal.”

☀

The woman stared in silence at the people gathered around her and some other people sitting in chairs. Everyone’s faces were filled with concerns, but no one knew what to say.

“What are we going to do now?”

The question was what everyone has been thinking about for a while now. The whole group felt _lost_. Someone was biting nervously on his nails, trying to ease down the trembling of his body. A teenage girl was shaking, trying to hold back tears.

No one knew what to say. But someone had to.

A young boy stepped through the door and closed it behind him, separating the group inside from the whole outside world. Without a single word, he sat on the windowsill.

“Is everyone present?”

The group wasn’t too big, actually, it was way smaller than they expected. Less than fifty people were gathered in the hall, but it had to be enough for now. From the lack of seats, most of them sat wherever they found a place, on the floor or windowsills, even drawers. The curtains were tugged over the windows though, so that no one would see what’s happening inside.

“No one more will come. Let’s start” someone said quietly to a man and the said man stood up, making everyone in the room fall silent in an instant. All the eyes focused on him and no one dared to speak, awaiting for him to.

The man cleared his throat.

“As we all realize, Magenta has been destroyed. Our savior… sacrificed herself to fulfil the mission, but she’s been defeated and took hostage. It’s a huge loss for us. But _… it’s not our end_.”

Someone let out a muffled, dry laugh, clearly not believing in the last words. But the man didn’t even look at them, glancing at the other people instead to see their reactions. No one even flinched.

He sighed softly and took a chair he was sitting on, placing it in front of himself to set his hands on the backrest. When he leaned in, his long hair fell over his face, making him put it behind his ear in slight annoyance. But no one pointed it out even quietly, as the man’s aura was almost intimidating. He was tall and well-built, and everyone in the room knew that he wasn’t a person one could just speak to as ever they pleased. They owed him respect, not only because of how important in the organization he was, but also because they knew how well he could maintain his anger while bringing the worst punishments towards those, who dared to underestimate him. At the same time though, he was the person who could lead everyone. He knew how to speak, he knew what people wanted to hear. The Savior always cherished him.

“A lot of us decided to leave” the man continued. “But there’s no place for them anymore. The world hates us, we’ll be chased no matter where we go. By our families, our so-called ‘friends’, the society that always treated us as if we were its toys, ridding us from our identity, our needs. These people will come back to us, sooner or later. Mint Eye has a potential, my friends!” He raised his voice purposely, making people around him hold their breaths. “And we won’t be defeated easily. Not with the power we’ve gathered over all these years.”

He passed by the chair, approaching the group since from the beginning they were trying to stay away from him.

“We may not have our palace anymore, but we can build it again, from the ashes. The real power of Mint Eye, is in our hearts. In our beliefs and the will to prove ourselves. We will win back our savior with the help of _her_ _right hand_. And… you know, what else we will do?”

The crowd rustled in anticipation, making his lips curl up into a smirk full of satisfaction.

“We will take our revenge. On the traitors that are the reason of our misery. On all of them.”

 

On the windowsill, a silhouette sat, with a black hood of his new, leather jacket hiding his hair and part of his face. He listened to the words carefully, sneaking peeks at the believers in the room.

He knew all the rhetorical tricks the man was using to bring the others onto his side, and he wasn’t really impressed by them. But they worked, and that was important. The crowd had fury, and a will to fight. And that was all they needed. Without their Savior, they still were able to carry on her will.

But to the boy, it didn’t matter anymore. All he had on mind, was his own revenge. The will to destroy what hurt him, to make the others tremble in agony as he used to do before. To make them _regret_ that they ever thought about being happy, because all of their hopes would be thrown on the ground and crushed under his feet.

But out of all, there was one thing that made his skin crawl in excitation, so much that his breath would skip just from a mere thought.

The thought of taking back what from the very beginning belonged to him and what the traitors dared to take away and claim as theirs.

To take back the one who made him so vulnerable in need, who made him spill out his feelings to her...

His?

No, these weren’t his feelings anymore. An old story. He didn’t need that.

_After all, the marshmallow boy would never bother him again._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... 've been a while, hehe;; I never abandoned this work, it's just me being too busy to finish this chapter... But I finally managed! Thank you for your patience!  
> So, um. Hm. I'd like to say that, there's a 'Readerland' book on my account that includes MysMe one shots, also with Saebae! Please, check it out if only you feel like doing so!


	5. Short Important Note & Discord Server!

Ah, about a new chapter, uh, well-

I know I should add something, but at this moment I'm fairly busy with exams so everything has been postponed...

Nonetheless, I'd like to invite you guys - e v e r y o n e - to a discord **Mystic Messenger server** I've been a part of for a while now. We're carrying on recruitment and so, it'd be great if you decided to join! We don't expect anything in return, we just want to meet new people!

You can join through the link here:

<https://discord.gg/pumJ3pC>

Hope to see you there soon!

 

About Ray's route everyone's hype about, I have to wait till my exams are over so please don't spoil anything T_T this fic will in no way follow the events from the new route,  and the MM server has a separate chanel to talk about that, so u won't be spoiled there either, no worries! ^^


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